SOUTH DERBYSHIRE AREA FORUM ETWALL 6 th November 2013 PRESENT:- District Council Representatives Councillors Mrs. Brown (Chairman) and Councillors Roberts; Bale; Ford; Mrs. Patten and Mrs. Plenderleith. Kevin Stackhouse (Director of Finance and Corporate Services) & C Smith (Safer Communities Manager). Derbyshire County Council Representatives Councillor Ford and Mrs. Patten. P. Jameson (Forum Liaison Officer). Parish Council/Meeting Representatives M. Paleman and J. Nichols (Dalbury Lees Parish Council), S. Cooper (Hilton Parish Council); I. Bennett, B. Myring and D. Muller (Etwall Parish Council), S. & M. Nesbitt (Egginton Parish Council), T. Beresford (Foston and Scropton Parish Council). Members of the Public G. Wale, C. Pidgeon, D. Mellors, O. Emery, D. Peacock, C. Hall, S. Jolly, T. Wherly. EA/9 APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were received from Councillor John Lemmon. EA/10 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None. EA/11 CHAIRMAN S ANNOUNCEMENTS A Neighbourhood Plan Workshop is taking place at SDDC on 12 th November and all Parish and District Councillors have been invited to attend. The Chairman announced that recycling in South Derbyshire soared by 188 per cent in the first two weeks of the new service being rolled out.the District Council has heaped praise on residents for the way they have taken to the third bin, which allows them to recycle more than ever before.417 tonnes of material - 1 -
was recycled during the 2 weeks in October, compared to 144.9 tonnes over the same period in 2012. A resident asked if the figures included local recycling collection points. Director of Finance and Corporate Services confirmed that it would if it was a council owned site. Draft Local Plan last workshop was taking place tonight at Mickleover Country Park. The Chairman gave an update from the Planning Policy Manager on the Hilton, Etwall and Hatton consultation events and some of the key issues raised: Etwall The majority of those who attended the event were concerned about the proposed 100 dwellings at Etwall largely on the basis of loss of countryside/views and impact on traffic congestion at the junction of Willington Lane and High Street. Concern about on street parking in the village, particularly at school start and finish times. Concern that the relocation of the Etwall cricket pitch to the proposed housing site was not mentioned in the relevant housing policy. Concern over primary and secondary school provision within the area. Some consultees mentioned that the primary school was at capacity and some children from the village had to go to primary schools in neighbouring villages. There was also concern over capacity at John Port School. Concern over the potential Rail Freight Terminal Some conusltees asked why dwellings are proposed for Etwall in the Draft Local Plan, whereas previously in the Preferred Growth strategy Etwall was a non-preferred site. Query as to whether small scale housing at Sutton Lane would be acceptable. Hatton Some expressed concern over the existing road capacity of the village and how it would be affected by the proposed development Concern was expressed over primary school capacity of Hatton, however consultees were told that an extension to the primary school would be required as part of the housing development Some concern over secondary school capacity was expressed. - 2 -
Flooding concerns at the proposed housing site and potential to exacerbate flooding beyond the site. Interest in the provision of alternative access to the expanded Nestle site from Derby Road, to the north. View from the owners of the proposed housing site that retail provision should be at the former Trent Barton Depot, closer to the centre of the village, rather than forming part of the housing site itself. Hilton Some expressed concern over primary school provision and how this would be addressed Some concern over secondary school capacity was expressed Some consultees asked why dwellings are proposed for Hilton in the Draft Local Plan, whereas previously in the Preferred Growth strategy Hilton was a non-preferred site The recent expansion of Hilton and the lack of infrastructure to provide for the population Flooding concerns at the site The deadline for consultation responses is 15 th November. Pig Farm at Foston The decision will ultimately be determined by Derbyshire County Council. The Environment Agency (EA), a most important consultee, is still considering the waste licensing aspect of the application and its opinion is expected by 30 November. Only when the EA decision has been received by DCC will the application be submitted to the DCC Planning Committee for determination. This is likely in the New Year. Rail Head at Egginton Common This application of national significance will come forward in due course and likely, well into next year. The proposal will be examined by the planning inspectorate and determined by the relevant Government Minister due to its size. There will be 2 rounds of consultation and the District Council will agree on a consultation strategy with the applicant. Specialist consultants appointed by the Developer will produce reports on each and every aspect and impact of the proposal. EA/12 MINUTES The Minutes of the Etwall Area Forum held on 18 th June 2013 were noted. There was a request from the floor to put the location that the meeting took place onto the Area forum minutes. - 3 -
EA/13 REPORT BACK ON ISSUES RAISED AT THE LAST MEETING The Chairman read out the following update on the Ash Dieback disease: 1. Three local sites are now confirmed to have the disease, they are; Pick triangle at Albert Village Feandock Woods Willersley Woods 2. Any sites within 1.5km are presumed to be infected and confirmation therefore is not required. Swadlincote Woodlands is within this catchment area 3. The Government are looking into lifting restriction on Ash imports from countries where the disease is not out in the wide environment and lightening the restrictions on movement of infected timber. Arboricultural groups are lobbying Ministers to ensure the current restrictions are retained. 4. At Swadlincote Woodlands, where trees are exhibiting signs of the disease, these will be included in our annual thinning programme of woodland management. We have implemented a simple action plan based on F.C. guidance, which includes the introduction of biosecurity measures and disposal of infected material, by burning on site. Following the update provided by the Tree Officer on Ash Dieback, a request was made for the Tree Officer to attend the next meeting. Tree officer to be approached to attend the next meeting A resident raised that a tetra-pak recycling bank is present in Hatton and questioned why this was not available through the SDDC recycling scheme. The Chairman confirmed that the Council were looking into this as they would like to be 100% on recycling. Senior Waste Manager to provide info on whether there are plans to recycle Tetra Packs EA/14 PUBLIC QUESTIONS ON ISSUES RAISED BY RESIDENTS A resident asked if anything was discussed during the previous Safer Neighbourhoods meeting on the proposed Railhead, the Chairman confirmed that it wasn t. A resident asked if there was any progress with wind turbines. Another resident replied that there had been a meeting about a proposed Turbine in Long Lane near Thurvaston. A resident raised that 375 more houses were to be built in Hilton. If it wasn t for the rail link then Egginton and Hilton would be one village. It was asked if the proposed houses were due to the rail head. The Chairman stated that it was more down to the requirement of South Derbyshire to have over 13,000 new - 4 -
homes by 2028. It was asked if flooding had been considered as part of the local plan proposals. There was a comment that there was little mention of the rail head proposals in the Local Plan documentation. A resident asked about public consultation on St Modwen s housing and new primary school development proposal. The Chairman confirmed that the developers are encouraged to have consultation with the public and there is a meeting scheduled for 20 th November at Hilton Village Hall. A resident stated he was concerned that elected members were not always informed by the Council of pre-application discussions on planning applications. Resident raised concerns about a housing stock letter, which came out with a postage stamp from Edinburgh. It made it look like it could have been bogus. The Chairman confirmed that the company in Edinburgh would have been consultants that the Council had used to distribute the letter and that it was genuine. It would have been useful for a note to have been added to the, letters stating the council had appointed the consultants to issue the letter. A further resident added it would have been useful to have detail of this letter on the Council website as there had been previously. Information to be fed back to Housing. A resident asked what s happening with Hilton level crossing as there had been a recent serious accident. Cllr Patten stated that the police had confirmed the recent accident was human error. A resident stated that the existing crossing will be removed as part of Network Rail's programme of upgrading the line. A question was raised on schools in Hilton and with the proposed new housing was there plans for a new secondary school. The Chairman confirmed there was a statutory obligation for DCC to provide schools and SDDC planning dept are liaising with the Education Authorities. As John Port is an academy will it not be part of DCC discussions although the Chairman confirmed that they have a good relationship. It was raised that the cardboard container isn t large enough; the Chairman confirmed she will feedback to Gillian Coates at SDDC. One resident complimented the council as they were still collecting the bins at 7.30pm which was beyond the call of duty. EA/15 COUNTY COUNCIL ISSUES The DCC Forum Liaison Officer provided a DCC update. Digital Derbyshire - 5 -
A significant step forward was taken in August when DCC signed a 27.75m contract with BT to make fibre broadband available to a further 88,000 premises across the county; bringing superfast speeds to more than 95% of homes & businesses by 2016. The project builds on BT s existing commercial fibre deployment in the county. The project aims to ensure all remaining premises will also see anuplift in speed and deliver a minimum of 2mbps to almost all homes & businesses (i.e. fast enough to use online services such as BBC iplayer). The Digital Derbyshire programme is separate from any commercial activity and exists to plug the gap where the commercial market either has not, or does not intend to invest in superfast broadband (up to 2015). DCC are keen to ensure that no one gets left behind digitally; the programme funding will be used to make areas currently deemed as not commercially viable, commercially viable. The funding is made up of a 12.87m contribution from BT, DCC contributing 4.9m, 7.4m from BDUK, as well as 2.5m from the European Regional Development Fund. Openreach (BT s local network division) have now begun work on the ground with engineers surveying locations around the county and analysing the best way to roll-out the programme. There will be a phased approach to the roll-out, with the first areas predicted to be upgraded in 2014. If you have internet access and go onto the Digital Derbyshire page on DCC s website, there is a map of the county showing the expected rollout. The map is high level only; so it s not accurate at premises/postcode level. Still at an early stage so the expected deployment plans will be subject to change as further work is progressed. There are no specific details of which areas will get what and when at this stage; phased announcements will be made when available. The role of Broadband Champions is being re-launched as Digital Champions details of what that will entail and how to get involved are provided in the hand out. Essentially, as the programme moves into the delivery phase, DCC are looking for Digital Champions who can act as agents in their community; to showcase the benefits of broadband locally i.e. the convenience of internet banking, price comparison sites, social networking, etc. Encouraging people to get online. - 6 -
In the new role, there will be no requirement to attend regular meetings. There may only be one a year as most of the information will be contained on the new website when launched. Cllr Patten was disappointed not to hear more specifics on areas which will get uplift and when. The Forum Liaison Officer was asked to see if he could obtain more info on a timescale and feedback to Cllr Patten. A question was raised as to why are more users being encouraged to become broadband champions before speed has been improved. The Chairman asked if an officer with more technical knowledge could attend future meetings. The Forum Liaison officer said he would ask the question but only one officer was doing the project so probably wouldn t be able to attend couldn t all meetings. Forum Liaison officer to enquire and feedback at a future meeting. It was stated that Hatton, Scropton and Etwall all use an exchange located outside of Derbyshire (in Tutbury) so will they benefit from Digital Derbyshire? Forum Liaison Officer confirmed that Digital Derbyshire should cover all Derbyshire regardless of where the exchange is. It was mentioned that Drop down box on Gold Card application form online doesn t recognise certain areas. Customer Services to provide feedback for next meeting. EA/16 DISTRICT COUNCIL ISSUES None provided. EA/17 DATE OF NEXT MEETING The date of the next Meeting would be confirmed in due course. MRS L BROWN CHAIRMAN The Meeting terminated at 8.30 pm. - 7 -